Associations of Nutritional Status with Full Immunization Coverage and Safe Hygiene Practices among Thai Children Aged 12-59 Months.

Prevailing prevention measures against morbidity, such as vaccination and safe hygiene practices, vary among local cultural contexts, and little is known about the extent to which these behaviors mitigate poor nutritional status in young children in Southeast Asia. We examined the associations between nutrition status with full immunization coverage, and water, sanitation and hygiene status among children aged 12-59 months in the 2015-2016 Thailand Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (n = 9060). When adjusted for confounding factors, children with incomplete immunization status were more likely to be stunted (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.47; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.24-1.75, p < 0.001), wasted (aOR 1.67, 95% CI: 1.31-2.12, p < 0.001), and overweight (aOR 1.24, 95% CI: 1.01-1.51, p < 0.05), whereas children who used unimproved water sources were more likely to be overweight (aOR 2.43, 95% CI: 1.27-4.64, p < 0.01). The further implementation of simple and cost-effective health promotion activities and practices at the household level may be important interventions for healthy child growth and development, particularly under restricted living conditions due to COVID-19.

Associations of Emotional Behavior with Nutritional Status and Lifestyle Habits among Schoolchildren Aged 5-10 Years in Sri Lanka.

We aimed to examine the relationships of lifestyle habits and nutritional status with emotional behavior among schoolchildren in Sri Lanka. Five hundred and eight schoolchildren (195 boys and 313 girls) aged 5-10 years were included. Emotional and behavioral problems were assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Nutritional status was used for body mass index-for-age z-score. Breakfast consumption, daily moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA), wake-up time, and bedtime were considered lifestyle habits. The mean total difficulties score ± standard deviation was 12.0 ± 5.3, and the mean prosocial behavior score was 7.4 ± 1.9. In total, 89.2% children ate breakfast, and 41.3% engaged in at least 60 min of MVPA per day. After adjustment for confounding factors, multiple logistic regression analyses showed that breakfast skipping was associated with high scores on conduct problems (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 2.95, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.50 to 5.77, p < 0.01) and that late bedtime was related to low prosocial behavior scores (aOR = 2.43, 95% CI: 1.17 to 5.03, p < 0.05). Our findings suggest that promoting regular lifestyle habits helps reduce psychological difficulties in schoolchildren. However, further research, including longitudinal studies, are required to identify the mechanism underlying this relationship.